Annabelle Breton

Annabelle Breton (died 1560) was a French Protestant noblewoman during the 16th century. While her father was a loyal French lord, she was raised at the English court due to the persecution of Huguenots in France, and, in 1560, Queen Elizabeth I of England sent Breton to serve as her proxy in a proxy marriage with Louis I of Bourbon, Prince de Conde. That night, platonically shared a bed with a sword separating them to prevent them from consummating the marriage and becoming actual spouses. The next morning, shortly after Conde left, a fire was set in the house where she was sleeping, and she and the other witnesses to the proxy marriage were burned alive along with all documents regarding the marriage between Conde and Elizabeth. The mysterious fire left the wedding undone, delaying Conde's marriage to Elizabeth and ruining the Anglo-Huguenot alliance.